film / 1940
Rebecca
A new bride at Manderley is overshadowed by Rebecca, whose memory turns romance into suspicion and fear.
Verified facts
- Runtime
- 2h 6m
- Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Released
- 1940
- Based on
- Rebecca
PlotGeeks explainer signals
Why read this explainer
Mrs Danvers and Manderley's rooms keep Rebecca present for the new bride. The household's routines turn the bride's wish to belong into a comparison she cannot escape.
PlotGeeks note
Maxim's confession changes the bride's fear of being inadequate into knowledge of a concealed death. The film distinguishes that concealment from an intentional murder.
Connected knowledge
Connected in PlotGeeks
Related explainers and browse pages for Rebecca.
- Part of Rebecca on screen
Compare this version with other screen works in the Rebecca family.
- Compare with Rebecca (1938 book)
Compare what changes between the 1938 book and the 1940 film.
- Explore Memory
Remembering and forgetting affect what characters accept as evidence, how they experience loss, and the versions of the past they can live with.
- Explore Identity
Discovering or revealing an identity can change a character's relationships, status, or chances of survival.
Timeline
Major events
- The new bride reaches Manderley
Mrs Danvers surrounds her with reminders of Rebecca and encourages her insecurity.
- A wreck reveals Rebecca's body
Its discovery forces Maxim to explain the death and his concealment of it.
- Medical evidence changes the inquiry
The doctor reveals Rebecca's cancer, defeating the pregnancy claim used against Maxim.
- Manderley burns
Danvers sets the house ablaze and dies while the new Mrs de Winter escapes.
Story in 60 Seconds
The short version
A young paid companion marries the widowed Maxim de Winter and arrives at Manderley, where the housekeeper Mrs Danvers preserves the memory of his first wife. The new bride mistakes Maxim's secrecy for devotion to Rebecca and struggles to belong. A discovered body forces him to reveal that the first marriage was a sham and that Rebecca died after falling during an argument. He concealed her body rather than report the death. An investigation threatens their marriage before medical evidence changes the case and Danvers destroys the house she has guarded.
Spoiler sectionEnding ExplainedShow ending detailsHide ending details
Rebecca's doctor establishes that she had terminal cancer rather than the pregnancy used in Favell's accusation. The suicide verdict stands, leaving Maxim free of the murder allegation. Mrs Danvers sets Manderley on fire and dies inside Rebecca's room, while the new wife escapes. The couple survives, but the home organized around Rebecca's memory is irretrievably lost.
Original context
Why it matters
What the conflict reveals
Manderley's rooms and Mrs Danvers's routines preserve Rebecca's authority in the household. The new bride encounters that authority before she understands the marriage it conceals.
Key turning points
Maxim explains Rebecca's death
Maxim's confession changes the bride's understanding of his silence. She is no longer competing with a beloved first wife but learning about a death he concealed.
Character links
Who connects to whom
Character motivations
What drives the characters
The new Mrs de Winter wants assurance that Maxim loves her and that she belongs at Manderley. Danvers defends Rebecca's memory by attacking that fragile sense of belonging.
Adaptation
Book and film connection
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